Oct 5, 2009

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Robin Hood #2

The Muppets have apparently started filming for an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition coming soon to ABC. Not much news about this has surfaced yet, but as it trickles down, I'll be sure to keep you updated!

Muppet Robin Hood #2

Comic Book Review

Ryan Dosier – BOOM! Studios’ Muppet Robin Hood series continues with the second installment written by Tim Beedle and drawn by Armand Villavert, Jr. In the last issue, we met Robin Hood (Kermit the Frog) as he fought against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Sam Eagle) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Gonzo the Great) and rallied his Merry Men (Scooter, Janice, Sweetums, Rowlf, Rizzo, Lew Zealand, Swedish Chef, Robin) to fight the tyranny of Prince John.

Issue #2 was released July, 2009.

PLOT
The story in this issue picks up right where issue #1 finished, with Robin Hood and the Merry Men attempting to bring down the tyranny of Prince John. They do this by disbanding his cruddy tourist traps such as “The Cheese Castle,” “The Land of Imagination,” and a sock museum.

We soon meet Maid Marian and her lady in waiting (Mildred Huxtetter) as they pay a visit to the World’s Largest Venus Flytrap (another of Prince John’s schemes). As Robin Hood and the Merry Men steal the day’s earnings from the purveyor of the flytrap, Maid Marian is suddenly eaten by the plant. Of course, it’s now up to Robin Hood to save her in an incredibly disgusting, disturbingly un-Muppety way.

We also finally meet Prince John (Johnny Fiama) who is more than fed up with the lackluster performances of the Sheriff and Guy. Prince John decides to hire some one new, Sir Swineman of the Sword (Link Hogthrob) who refuses to enter Sherwood Forest because he’s afraid of raccoons. After Sir Swineman falls through, Prince John sends his court jester, Tuck, to infiltrate Robin Hood’s camp as a friar.

We then return to Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood has blind-folded Maid Marian and her Lady in Waiting. After removing Maid Marian’s blindfold, Robin and Marian proceed to get into a fight, which ends with Robin kissing Marian right on the lips. (Which is completely uncharacteristic of Kermit—having the frog fall for the pig first and having the pig totally reject him just feels awkward.)

Soon enough, Friar Tuck arrives and tells Robin and the Merry Men all about Prince John’s big feast and celebration in the honor of Saint Shecky—the patron saint of propeller hats. Robin Hood and the gang decide to take their fight to Prince John in person.

Little John (Sweetums) has the idea of disguising the Merry Men as monsters to get past Prince John’s monster guards. After a passing reference to Roger Langridge’s (vastly superior) The Muppet Show Comic Book, the Merry Men storm the castle. The captain of the guard (Uncle Deadly) allows them in to the party.

The party guests soon freak out as they see monsters storming their party. And when Robin and the Merry Men reveal themselves, Prince John, the Sheriff, and Guy start to freak out as well.

After a lot of random fighting and throwing of food, the comic ends with Prince John’s party in shambles and Robin Hood and Maid Marian falling in love.

TONE
I still don’t like the tone of these comics. It’s very odd (in a bad way). It’s not punny, it isn’t heart-warming (at all), it’s just… boring. Maybe part of this has to do with the artwork that doesn’t grab me at all when I read through it, but I also have to pin part of this on the writing. It doesn’t work for the Muppets. The good jokes only come once every few pages and the characters just don’t seem like themselves. It’s unfortunate, but the tone in Muppet Robin Hood is all wrong.
WRITINGSome of the writing works, such as the exchanges between Johnny and Sal and Johnny and Link, but most of it just falls flat, lacking the character “voices” altogether. Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy fall hardest to this—which isn’t good, since they’re the main characters.

ARTOnce again, the art is passable, at most. Yes, I can look at every character and say, “Oh, that’s Mildred” or “Hey, it’s Wayne and Wanda,” but I never look at them and say, “My gosh, what a great looking Johnny Fiama!” The characters are just there, they don’t stand out at all—and aren’t the Muppets supposed to stand out?

In The Muppet Show Comic Book, even though sometimes Scooter and Kermit have teeth, at least they jump off the page with art that may be wacky and off the mark, but it’s Muppety and wacky and off the mark. Muppet Robin Hood is not.

CONCLUSION
While I support the buying of all Muppet merchandise, I don’t recommend spending your money on getting the individual issues of Muppet Robin Hood. In fact, the trade paperback with all four issues comes out this Wednesday, October 7th. It’s better than spending $3 for each lackluster issue, when you could instead spend that $3 on either of the vastly superior Muppet comic books from BOOM! Studios: The Muppet Show Comic Book or Muppet Peter Pan.

Buy your copy of the trade paperback of Muppet Robin Hood today!

CAST
Kermit the Frog as Robin Hood; Miss Piggy as Maid Marian; Gonzo the Great as Sir Guy of Gisbourne; Sam Eagle as the Sheriff of Nottingham; Fozzie Bear as Tuck, The Fool; Sweetums as Little John; Robin the Frog as Squirt; Scooter as Much the Miller’s Son; Janice as Willa Scarlet; Rowlf the Dog as Alan-a-Dale; Rizzo the Rat as Arthur a Bland; Lew Zealand as Rich the Fishmonger; The Swedish Chef as himself; Mildred Huxtetter as Maid Marian’s Lady in Waiting; Johnny Fiama as Prince John; Sal Minella as Sir Sal; Link Hogthrob as Sir Swineman of the Sword; Uncle Deadly as Captain of the Guard; Behemoth and Green Frackle as Guards; Nigel the Conductor, Wayne, and Wanda in cameo appearances.